Turkey and the European Union

"This book critically examines the origins of today's anti-Islamic rhetoric in Europe with a specific focus on representations of Turkey. Applying a novel theoretical framework that understands collective identities as dramaturgical achievements, it shows that stereotypes of Turks continue to provide an important "Other" against which a supposed European "Self" is contrasted. The book identifies two competing meta-narratives that have long vied for the right to define Christendom and later Europe, and argues that the struggle over these narratives - one tragic, the other comic - have come to a head in Turkey's current bid for EU membership"--